Shannon Dawson will be the new Southern Miss offensive coordinator, according to a report Wednesday morning from Dan Wolken of USA Today.
Dawson spent the 2015 season at Kentucky, but was let go by head coach Mark Stoops as pennance for the Wildcats' tumble from a 4-1 start to a 5-7 finish. Prior to Kentucky, Dawson served as the offensive coordinator at West Virginia from 2012-14, and as inside receivers coach for a year prior to that.
Dawson also holds coordinator experience at Stephen F. Austin and Division III Millsaps and was interviewed for a number of other coordinator positions over the past month or so.
He'll inherit one of the most improved units in college football. The Golden Eagles leapt from 102nd nationally in yards per play in 2014 to ninth last fall. Southern Miss offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey parlayed that success into the coordinator job at Arizona State.
Oh, and Dawson's first game in the black and gold? At Kentucky.